Bloodroot’s papers to be archived at Yale

August 20, 2008

Selma, Me

A snippet of good news to balance out a blah day, via my cooking/living mentors at Bloodroot:

“Noel & Selma are honored to announce that the Sterling Library at Yale University has requested Bloodroot’s history and papers for the use of students as a record of 70’s, 80’s, & 90’s feminist and lesbian activity and community political activism.”

Yay! I don’t know why they aren’t celebrating their 2000’s activism, but whatevs.

I am a terrible photographer!

In college I did some archiving of Susan B. Anthony’s papers, and it was a lot of fun. She had terrible handwriting! (She was a busy lady. Many of her letters were written on trains, too.) It’s exciting to think about future generations researching the important contributions Bloodroot has made.

Ah, Bloodroot. The other day Selma gave me her email address. I just can’t wrap my mind around the fact that this 70-something-year-old staunch technology critic is learning email. She goes online mostly to check out recipes she hears about on the radio – can you imagine how annoying it must be to be listening to a food show and to have them constantly mentioning interesting-sounding bonuses available online? She got tired of it, so she finally got on the computer (her partner, Carolanne, has had a computer for years) and slowly started tooling around, sailing off into a new world.

“It’s OK,” she told me. “Nothing so interesting that I’d rather fiddle around with it than be in the garden, that’s for sure.”

Me, Noel

Selma’s primary problem with the internet (if she will allow me to speak for her) was 1) pornography and 2) the alarming amount of time people she knows – ahem, Carolanne – spend online instead of at the weaving loom, spinning wheel, garden, or kitchen (where she spends her time).

She probably has a much more nuanced and complicated critique of the internet that I can’t quite remember because…well…I’m brain dead from answering emails all day.

2 Responses to “Bloodroot’s papers to be archived at Yale”

Uhmmm? Did you really just say that SELMA has an email address??!! Crazy! Don’t know if the news has spread to Bloodroot yet but, I moved back east last week. I have been insanely busy looking for a home…haven’t stopped at the root yet. When are you there next I’ll come in and say what up. Can’t wait to catch up.